Seller wants 1031 exchange but no property yet; can I still buy?

[Jessica G.]

Hi everyone - I've found an off-market deal that fits what I'm looking for but the seller doesn't have a property to do a 1031 exchange on yet so he's not quite ready. Is there anything creative we can do here? Some kind of seller financing or option or something?

I'm super new to this so I don't know all the different avenues yet - how can we get this deal done?

[Dave Foster]

@Jessica G., You're in a great position because you have something incredibly valuable to offer him - time and flexibility.

He needs time to find his replacement property.   The best way to do this is for you to get it under contract (or an option as @Wayne Brooks said.  But an actual contract contingent on his finding a suitable replacement or with a floating closing date would be best for his putting an offer on a new property.  If you can be patient then you might be able to even negotiate a bit lower price.

If he finds the perfect replacement property and you're not ready to close then a reverse exchange like @Jessica Zolotorofe would be another option to save the deal.